Air travel in the new normal

Travel demand picking up gradually with the resumption of flights

KARACHI:

As businesses reopen worldwide, the demand for travel is gradually picking up momentum and global flight operations to Pakistan are resuming with all the preventive measures needed against Covid-19.

The aviation sector, which was earlier hit hard across the world with flights being suspended completely, is now spreading its wings to prop up businesses and ensure its survival in the new normal.

Although air travel is critical for pushing the wheels of economy, it will never be the same as in the past.

During the recent peak of Covid-19 pandemic, dozens of airlines ran into losses and some even filed for bankruptcy. However, leading airlines are reverting back to normality in a different but a challenging scenario. During the halt to international travel, Emirates airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone returned over AED 5 billion ($1.4 billion) in Covid-19-related travel refunds.

“Covid-19 has posed significant challenges to the global travel industry and as the world adjusts to the next phase of the pandemic, Emirates is optimistic this will bring some stability for travel demand to return and economies to begin recovering,” remarked Mohammad Sarhan, Emirates Vice President in Pakistan, while responding via email to questions sent by The Express Tribune.

He made the remarks while talking about the new travel experience through airlines and the measures taken by them to ensure safety standards along with customer confidence.

“We will continue to work closely with international and local authorities to responsibly and gradually resume passenger operations to meet travel demand, but will always put as our top priority the health and safety of our customers, our crew and the communities we serve,” Sarhan said.

Emirates has restarted full-fledged operations to five cities in Pakistan. The airline currently operates 21 weekly flights to Karachi, 10 weekly flights to Islamabad, 10 weekly flights to Lahore, seven weekly flights to Sialkot and five weekly flights to Peshawar.

“Pakistan is a very important market for us. We currently serve five cities in Pakistan, offering customers 53 weekly flights to the country and beyond – offering safe and convenient connections to destinations across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas via Dubai,” he added.

According to the vice president, Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the safety of customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and anti-bacterial wipes.

“We have modified our services on the ground and in the air, and put in place a multi-layered set of measures to protect our customers and colleagues at every step of the travel journey.”

Airlines worldwide are spending extra money to completely sanitise the internal environment of airplanes whereas staff interaction with passengers is being kept at the minimum level.

Elaborating, the Emirates VP said all boarding agents and cabin crew on board the airline were covered by the personal protective equipment (PPE).

Covid-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving in Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from, according to the VP.

“Dubai remains highly attractive to international visitors,” he said. In 2019, the city welcomed 16.7 million visitors and hosted hundreds of international meetings and exhibitions as well as sports and entertainment events.

Dubai is one of the world’s first cities that got the Safe Travel stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council, which has endorsed the emirate’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.

The writer is a staff correspondent

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2020

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.